13 Replies

I would say that is a theoretical question - we have some desktops that have lasted 6 years, then again, we have some desktops that only lasted 6 months. There are significant variables though. Also, I don't think that there is an industry standard for replacement cycles either - especially in this economy.

Usual accounting practice in the UK AFAIK is to depreciate over 3 years, which implies an expected life of 3 years. We work on a 4 year useful life, but it really depends on your environment, how demanding your users / apps are, and what your policy is regarding the relentless persuit of upgrades.

There are some accounting depreciation "rules" or so my controller tells me is the reason we have 7 yr cycles here. I think it is a very distorted view personally but for bean counters I'm sure it makes sense. Outside of that it depends on what the main task is for the computer; general administrative functions (word processing, email ect) hardly requires the hardware to be as current as say a system doing graphics or autocad. But then again as those upper end systems need to be replaced more quickly they certainly can be re-purposed elsewhere in the company extending the life quite a bit. So really it's more of a function of how long to they want them to last.

At my last company, we replaced every computer every three years - the reason was simple - we used only three models of computers (Laptop, Desktop, Workstation) - we ALWAYS had identical hardware everywhere, so we were able to image them & deploy them quickly (everyone had roaming profiles, so once they logged into the new computer, it was 100% identical to their previous one). The previous CFO had done some cost analysis to determine that it was cheaper to replace the PCs every 3 years than have one or two fail on us during a critical bid or something like that. A little skewed, but it led to VERY few hardware issues.

Simple, how long is the warranty. Also Hard drives tend to only last 4 years.

The simple fact is my first point, If the manufacturer is unwilling to support the PC then it is beyond it's life. Lifespan is different for every PC you will buy. But most people with healthy budgets plan on 3-4 years, 2 for laptops. You want to replace them before they start costing you in productivity.

Here we have depreciation time 2 yrs for desktops/laptops and 5 yrs for servers (I think). But how long computer lasts really depends on what you do on it. If you use computer just for mail and documents, then it can last for 6 yrs+.

I've seen some (small) companies still use PIII computers?!

In my opinion this time should be around 3-4 yrears, but as I said it really depends.

Asking how long a computer stays functional is sort of like asking how long a human lives; some burn out young, some are vital into their 90's.

But in terms of asset depreciation, planned obsolescence, hardware refresh cycles set by institutional budgets, etc., the common timeline is 3 to 5 years.

That's not to say that machines just stop working in year 6; it's just more likely that the costs of maintaining older machines goes up over time, while the cost of replacing them goes down.

It's sort of like the philosophy of reinstall vs. repair. Let's say someone's got a nasty malware infection or some other mystery problem. It might take 8-10 hours to clean up the infection or diagnose the problem and make repairs. It only takes 2 hours to simply wipe the system and reinstall the OS, or re-image the HD from a standard image with all programs installed. Which would you rather do?

Running old PCs can have the same TCO issues; it might take an extra hour a week for you to pamper the machine, and the slower old PC will make the user less productive all day every day. The cost for that, especially if multiplied many times, may mean that buying a brand new PC actually SAVES money.

I'm one of those guys that when something vital finally gives up, I replace it. That said, I've found that getting too far behind the power curve isn't a good thing, so I'm replacing ming about ever three years or so. Not to say I won't find some weird use for the old machine.

Every one of the computers here, with the exception of 2 or 3, are over 5 years old. Updating RAM can usually extend the life by a while. if, of course, your users take reasonably good care of the machines. Mine still run ok. I'll get some complaints of slowness every so often, but it turns out they usually are overloading their box with a bunch of programs open.

That's true; you can give an older unit some more life for about $200 or less by replacing the older (probably much smaller) hard drive - because moving parts age and fail - and replacing/maxing out the RAM. Try the automatic scanner at www.crucial.com to find compatible RAM, and be wary of mixing old RAM with new - mismatches often won't play well together.

But it's sort of like reheating pizza; you can do it once or twice before it gets too nasty - but eventually you should just get a new one.